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Gas stoves are more hazardous than we’ve been led to believe (2020)

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Re: Gas stoves are more hazardous than we’ve been led to believe (2020)

#41

Post by tootie »

7speter wrote: post #19
philips wrote: post #4

Relatedly I found this video on electric kettles vs gas stove efficiency for heating water pretty illuminating too: https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c?t=763 The summary is that a cheap electric kettle can boil water way faster and with far less wasted energy than a stove top kettle.

This assumes you (everyone) live(s) in a building whose circuit breaker won’t trip when you plug in said kettle. And it can cost a pretty penny to get a building up to this standard.

Fast electric kettles are fast due to their high power draw and efficient design. It should be possible to find a kettle that just draws less power. It will be equally power efficient just slower and less burdensome on your breakers.

Re: Gas stoves are more hazardous than we’ve been led to believe (2020)

#42

Post by kstenerud »

Gas stoves are an anachronism anyway; good riddance to them.

There has been no better time for electric-only cooking. Air fryers are FAR more energy efficient than ovens, and also cook faster. Sous-vide cookers are cheap and can cook certain dishes to perfection every time. Instant pot style pressure cookers cover most of the rest. And everyone already knows the convenience of microwave ovens.

Unless you're cooking a big roast or bird or cake, most stovetop and oven cooking can be done better with modern tools.

Re: Gas stoves are more hazardous than we’ve been led to believe (2020)

#43

Post by [deleted] »

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #7
philips wrote: post #4

Relatedly I found this video on electric kettles vs gas stove efficiency for heating water pretty illuminating too: https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c?t=763 The summary is that a cheap electric kettle can boil water way faster and with far less wasted energy than a stove top kettle.

That seems pretty obvious from their construction. I don’t know anyone that uses a stove top kettle. It’s unfortunate that in the US our electric kettles are much slower than in the U.K.

[deleted]

Re: Gas stoves are more hazardous than we’ve been led to believe (2020)

#44

Post by poutine »

My wife and I have allergies and are poor sleepers, as a result I religiously monitor air quality in several points in the home in order to manage the air. I find CO2 ppm over 1000 provides for headaches and poor sleep. Having a modern well sealed home means you rely a lot on an HRV to exchange the air, but sometimes you need to open the windows.

After all the monitoring for years I can attest that the gas cooktop has a massive influence on poor air quality. The vent hood helps, but does not eliminate CO2. Keeping CO2 under ~700ppm in occupied bedrooms takes some work.

For my next house that I'm building now I've put in induction, will never do gas again. Also supersized the vent hood and HVAC systems.

Indoor air quality is such an unappreciated topic in home construction.

Re: Gas stoves are more hazardous than we’ve been led to believe (2020)

#46

Post by JshWright »

7speter wrote: post #19
philips wrote: post #4

Relatedly I found this video on electric kettles vs gas stove efficiency for heating water pretty illuminating too: https://youtu.be/_yMMTVVJI4c?t=763 The summary is that a cheap electric kettle can boil water way faster and with far less wasted energy than a stove top kettle.

This assumes you (everyone) live(s) in a building whose circuit breaker won’t trip when you plug in said kettle. And it can cost a pretty penny to get a building up to this standard.

If an off the shelf kettle is popping a circuit breaker in your house (absent some other load on the circuit), there’s a reasonable chance that’s a fire waiting to happen in a faulty wiring connection somewhere.

Re: Gas stoves are more hazardous than we’ve been led to believe (2020)

#47

Post by cameldrv »

loudmax wrote: post #32
solarkraft wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> with far less wasted energy Small nit-pick: Electricity generation itself is often very lossy. In the case of fossil sources, the energy waste is just further up the chain (with solar power too, but it matters much less).

A generator powering the grid for the electric company is going to capture a far greater portion of the fossil fuel energy than the gas range in your kitchen. There will be some loss transmitting electrical power from the generator to your house, but usually less loss proportionally than than energy wasted above a gas range. As you suggest, climate-neutral renewable sources make up a tiny portion of most power grids,…

It’s probably pretty close to a wash. A gas stove is about 40% efficient.

A good combined cycle has power plant is about 60%, transmission is about 90%, and an induction stove is about 85%. That gives a net efficiency of 46%.

Re: Gas stoves are more hazardous than we’ve been led to believe (2020)

#48

Post by tootie »

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #5

There was a bunch of articles about this in 2020. After looking into the data my conclusion is the threat is overblown (big surprise), a large part of it is from cooking of any kind (heating produces particulates) and that if you take some basic precautions (open a window, use vent fan) the risk is very low.

Can you share some of that data? It seems pretty obvious that burning gas is far worse for indoor air quality than a magnet. Even if there's options to mitigate the danger, they won't always be available or users may just forget to take them. An induction stove is foolproof.

And I think your point about particulates from actual cooking is probably true too. I think any high heat cooking or deep frying should be done outside if you don't have a powerful vent.

Re: Gas stoves are more hazardous than we’ve been led to believe (2020)

#49

Post by i80and »

cplusplusfellow wrote: post #25
i80and wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is extremely common, even default in the US in my experience, to not have vent fans not actually... vent. As a renter, I don't really get a choice in the matter. Opening a window significantly is also pretty unfeasible most of the year.

Do you also have a gas stove? I’ve lived in lots of places that have unvented blowers but none of them had gas. Would be against code in almost every city in America.

Yep, gas stove unfortunately. I can't speak to code, but most people I talk to share this experience -- I assume there's grandfathering at play.

Re: Gas stoves are more hazardous than we’ve been led to believe (2020)

#50

Post by ziml77 »

ajross wrote: post #28
7speter wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This assumes you (everyone) live(s) in a building whose circuit breaker won’t trip when you plug in said kettle. And it can cost a pretty penny to get a building up to this standard.

Old buildings aren't really the subject at hand, though[1]. Ideas about replacing standard cooking appliances are aimed at new construction and renovation. If you can afford to put in an induction range, you can surely run a wire for it. [1] Though it must also be pointed out that older housing stock tends very strongly to be electric anyway. Gas cooktops have always been high end devices. People renting buildings in…

I never thought of gas as being high-end. Is it because in existing construction it takes a lot more work to run pipes versus pulling a few wires through the wall?
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